Backup applications and related technology have evolved to reduce the time and resources required to create and store backup copies of production data. For example, snapshot technology enables backup data to be generated quickly and efficiently, such as by enabling only data that has been changed since the last backup to be stored. De-duplicating storage systems, such as EMC® Data Domain® de-duplicating storage systems, have been used to store backup data efficiently. For production data stored on a separate storage array, such as an EMC® VMAX® storage array, current technologies enable backup data to be sent directly from the storage array to a backup data storage system (“target device”), such as a Data Domain® storage system, without having to pass through the application server or other node.
While approaches to generating and storing backup data have evolved, as described above, restore operations typically remain time consuming and resource intensive tasks. For example, to recover a prior version of even a single file from a backup the backup data must be read and used to restore to a restore target, such as the storage array on which the source data was stored, a logical unit of production data, such as a LUN or volume. Such a restore operation may be time consuming, and consumes resources on the backup target device, the production system to which the data set is restored, and the intervening network, among other resources.